I am one of these "smug vegetarians" to which you refer. In fact, apart from the most occasional bits of cheese, I am mainly vegan.
All I will say here is that MEAT IS THE NEW TOBACCO. Almost as addictive, and just as much denial. A willingness to play Russian Roulette with one's future for the sake of that pleasant oral sensation now.

heretic108 writes: According to KrebsOnSecurity, the infamous Ashley Madison affairs hookup website has been hacked by a group calling itself The Impact Team. This group are demanding the immediate and permanent shutdown of Ashley Madison, as well as a related site Established Man, or else they will publicly release all customer personal data.Link to Original Source

(Apart from any observations about how technological advances are largely driven by porn and guns)...

I can see some people mounting camera-sighted scope rifles on their drones. Protecting the lives of controversial public figures has suddenly become a whole lot more difficult. Expect an arms-war of RF jamming and anti-drone drones, and countermeasures to these, in endless iterations.

heretic108 writes: I have today sent this letter to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, proposing a compromise to resolve the ongoing issue of Julian Assange:

Dear Ecuador consular authorities,

I write to you with a suggestion for achieving resolution to the ongoing matter of Australian political activist Julian Assange, who remains effectively imprisoned in your London Embassy:

Negotiate a deal with the Swedish and British governments for Mr Assange to be relocated to the Ecuador mainland, but face trial under Swedish law

If criminal trial should result in a guilty verdict, then arrange for Mr Assange to serve his sentence within Ecuador's corrections system, under Ecuadorian law, at a facility within Ecuador chosen by the Ecuadorian government

At the conclusion of his sentence, or upon being granted parole, Mr Assange to be discharged to live out his life within Ecuador enjoying the political asylum he has previously been granted

Mr Assange does stand accused of sexual offences, for which a guilty verdict and custodial sentences are a probability. He does need to account for these matters. However, he is right to be concerned that his deportation to Sweden runs a high risk of him being handed over to American authorities and facing years of isolation, torture and other abuses.

This suggested compromise solution will offer the opportunity for him to attend to his prosecution and participate in resulting legal remedies, without risk of unjust abuses once Sweden is finished with him.

Thank you for reading this letter. I look forward to your thoughts in this matter.

Imagine if the authors/publishers of all those 1000-page tl;dr sleep-inducing university/college texts only got paid for each page actually read by each student.They'd go broke overnight, or very quickly figure out how to make their texts a lot more engaging!

heretic108 writes: As the immortal wisdom goes, "know thine enemy". Sadly, however, the enemy is often a group of misguided people who would normally be allies. This (PDF) letter from Independent Inventors of America sets out a so-called "case" for software patents, but the first serious flaws in the argument show in the first couple of paragraphs. It is handy, however, to be familiar with this line of thinking so we can promptly refute it in debate, when engaging with people terrified that weakening software patents will of itself turn us into mere serfs of our new Chinese overlords.Link to Original Source

This seems like the place to ask - have there been fearmongering campaigns against Net Neutrality in the USA? I was having a discussion about it on a business web forum and copped some brutal flames for speaking in its defense; people on that forum are making it out to be some kind of communist gulag that will destroy future internet innovation. Every time I made a point in favour of net neutrality, they would scream "Don't you believe in property rights, you TROLL?"

Design and implement a new Silk Road, with an architecture that resists detection and takedown far more vigorously than the earlier incarnations. You'll have enough to retire on within months. Problem solved.

Above and beyond any specific policy areas such as coding standards, seniority mixes and son on, the biggest and most important thing to manage is the overall software development culture. If you can energise the culture, and inspire people to believe in the mission, to fight for it like their own flesh and blood, as well as to honour each other's diversity of perspectives, you will achieve far more than by drawing policy lines in the sand. Keep it fun. Make the crew feel special. Give them a feeling that their futures are within their control.

This said, I would also recommend frequent peer code reviews - this will inspire better work, knowing that people are accountable to their peers. Also, be on the lookout for single-sourcing, and fight it off like the plague, even if it has a productivity cost. Yes, Natalie is brilliant with the middleware. But what if she gets hit by a bus, or leaves to have a kid? Defend in advance by ensuring there are others who can instantly step in and take over from her.

Again - an energised culture with a strong team spirit - a deep and powerful soul - will optimise the workplace far better than any arbitrary standards.

The Nations that have Ebola, have governments that want bribes and kicks back just so that non-profits can operate and help. Then even when they get there, more mafia style extortion occurs. Is there some way to change this behavior?